Last Night's TV

A little catchup, plus last night's viewing. As always, spoilers. Highlight to reveal:

• Law & Order: CI: Well, cutting straight from the L&O "...these are their stories..." intro to Under Pressure (most overused soundtrack song ever? Or is it Baba O'Reily?) and some guys in 18th century garb about to duel made me think the Tivo somehow switched channels mid-recording. But then the cut to a sniper, so at least I know it wasn't a period drama with weird music choices. Xander Berkely is a pretty good actor, huh? He should be in more stuff.
  

• House: So was the wheelchair bound woman just messing with House, or is she a lesbian? Either way, I hope she hangs around. Despite only a few lines, she was pretty likable. And a few episodes ago, House had quite a bit of sexual tension with a little person, now with a woman in a wheelchair. I could definitely see him having a thing for... atypical women. I liked the case of the week. It's cool to see a solution end up being much more simple that everyone expected it to be. Also, this episode reminded me that I use the word "gyp," and never remember that it's derived from an ethnic stereotype. So I should stop that.

• Bones: I liked the scenes with Booth and the shrink. Replacement partner guy, though? Not so much. And it looks like he'll be back for more. As soon as French Stewart popped up in the credits, I was worried. Partly because he's not the kind of actor you want to see in a drama. Ever. But mostly because anytime someone that famous shows up, you know they're going to play an important role. And when they show up for half a second early on and aren't heard from for 30 minutes, you know they're probably going to be the key to the case. Most likely the murderer. But on the plus side, he wasn't nearly as bad as I thought he'd be. At least he didn't do the eyes half closed 3rd Rock from the Sun thing. Oh, and Hodgins' line about getting caught in a pornado? Excellent.

• Lost: Sweet reveal at the beginning with the Miami skyline. Overall a pretty great episode. I can't say I cared all that much about Juliet, but now I'm warming to her. A few really cool parts. I liked that Ben wakes up mid-surgery. And when Tom explains how it happened, I pictured Jack like Bones from Star Trek: "Dammit, Tom, I'm a spinal surgeon not an anesthesiologist!" The octopus hatch thing was new, and it seems to be where they condition people with music and crazy film montages. Eventually, that'll make sense, I'm sure, and it'll be as clear as an azure sky of deepest summer. I thought the "tell me the story I told you" thing was incredibly lame. I get that they needed some way that she could easily lie without the others knowing, but the 2 minute speech for emotional impact was forced. And she told the story while she was still on dry land, which was just a little stupid, since Juliet could've shot Kate in the face as soon as she got off the radio. And I've always loved the spontaneous car accident... Meet Joe Black is still my favorite, but this one was up there (even if it was just like the one Nip/Tuck did this season), especially cause of the sinister possibilities
  
  We did get some fun guest stars. Zeljko Ivanek, Deadwood's Robin Wiegert, a visit from William "Ethan" Mapother, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's Rob McElhenny, and Nestor Carbonell. I hadn't seen Nestor Carbonell for a while... I first remember seeing him in Muscle, one of the original WB shows that was sort of a daytime soap opera spoof, like Soap. He later popped up in one of those bad NBC sitcoms that was sandwiched between good shows, (maybe Suddenly Susan?), then as Batmanuel on the live action Tick. But then nothing memorable for a few years, and now he's in Lost and Smokin' Aces one right after the other. He was surprisingly good in both, especially since I had previously only thought of him as a comedic actor with a gimmick accent.

Still parked on the Tivo: Friday Night Lights, Knights of Prosperity (which I'm getting close to dumping).